The number of people with post-COVID-19 syndrome seems to be growing exponentially, so we need long-term data to help physicians advise patients correctly. Among the many persistent symptoms, post-COVID-19 anosmia has good prognosis and almost full recovery at 1 year. In April, 2020, these same authors published a cohort of almost 100 COVID-19 positive patients (positive…
Could Statins Do More than Lower Cholesterol in COVID-19 Patients?
A history of acute myocardial Infarction, cardiac failure or hyperlipidemia has been associated with increased mortality of COVID-19. Observational studies have suggested statins might reduce death risk from COVID-19, in addition to lowering cholesterol. Statins have anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic effects that could play a role in the course of the infection. Other studies have arrived…
Efficacy of the Novavax Vaccine Against COVID-19: Nanoparticle Technology to the Test
In healthy adults, two doses of the NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax) vaccine has an efficacy of almost 90% against SARS-CoV-2 infection in all severity types. Furthermore, it has proven to be effective against the alpha variant (B.1.1.7). The Novavax vaccine is a recombinant nanoparticle containing full-length spike glycoprotein. It had already been shown to be safe and…
Janssen: Efficacy of the Only Single Dose Vaccine against COVID-19
One single dose of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine (Janssen) will protect you against symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. It also resulted effective to prevent severe or critical COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. Safety outcomes resulted similar to other COVID-19 vaccine phase 3 outcomes. Janssen vaccine outcomes were published in NEJM 6 months after the first vaccines…
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm during the Pandemic: Should They Be Operated or Deferred?
Some European societies have recommended deferring the treatment of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) ≥5.5 cm during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these documents have also suggested optimal deferral times, and everything must be adjusted according to the transmission risk/risk of rupture balance. Annual risk of rupture can be estimated based on a prospective cohort published by…
Myocarditis and mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines: New Information from the CDC
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), even though rare, a relationship between myocarditis and mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines definitely exists. Such risk is more prevalent among men, teenagers and young adults a few days following the second dose. Globally, the risk is low: 4.4 of cases per million after the first dose…
Post COVID-19 Persistent Symptoms: Far More Common than Expected
After the acute phase of COVID-19 infection, we commonly observe persistent symptoms that can alter functionality and quality of life. Persistent symptoms are those that continue at least 60 days after diagnosis or at least 30 days after recovery from the acute phase, or after discharge. Many of the studies included in this review have…
Efficacy of the Sinopharm Vaccine Against COVID-19
Vaccines developed with two different inactivated strains of SARS-CoV-2 (Sinopharm) significantly reduced the risk of symptomatic cases of COVID-19 with an excellent safety profile. Its proven technology—already used against other virus (influenza, hepatitis, polio, rabies)—and the fact that they can be stored at 2-8 °C mean that they are easily (and cheaply) produced, stored, and administered.…
COVID-19 Risk in Vaccinated Healthcare Workers
Vaccinated healthcare workers have a risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 of about 1%, a rate that is much higher than that reported in clinical studies. Multiple reasons can explain this difference. However, emphasis should be placed on the paramount importance of protective measures, such as wearing a facemask, social distancing, daily symptom checking, and…
Primary COVID-19 Infection Protects Against Potential Reinfection?
These study outcomes suggest reinfection is relatively rare in patients who recover from COVID-19. In addition, natural immunity against SARS-CoV-2 persists for at least one year and offers similar protection to that reported by vaccines. These data were obtained from cases infected with the original virus. For now, we do not know if it also…